Leading Low Performers: Handle Difficult Performance Conversations with Confidence and Clarity

One underperformer can drag down your entire team. Here's how to turn it around.

Every manager knows the problem: one team member consistently underperforms – and everyone else pays the price. Missed deadlines, dropping morale, and the growing sense that you're expected to fix it. But how?

This course gives you a clear, practical framework for turning performance problems around – without guesswork and without avoidable legal risk. You'll learn to spot underperformance early, set expectations that actually stick, and lead the difficult conversations most managers dread. And when improvement doesn't come, you'll know exactly how to escalate step by step – legally sound and professionally documented.

Instead of vague advice, you get proven tools you can apply the very next day: the 3-W conversation technique, a four-step escalation model, and concrete guidance on warnings, terminations, and working with the works council.

What You'll Learn

• Recognize the early warning signs of underperformance – before they spread
• Understand how low performers quietly damage team dynamics and results
• Set performance expectations that are clear, fair, and measurable
• Master the 3-W technique for direct yet respectful conversations
• Apply a structured four-step escalation model for persistent issues
• Navigate the legal requirements around warnings and termination with confidence
• Document performance issues correctly to protect yourself and your company
• Work effectively within works council regulations

Who This Course Is For

Team leads, managers, and HR professionals who want to address performance problems early, fairly, and on solid legal ground – turning a source of stress into a manageable process.

Turn the one situation that keeps managers up at night into your strongest display of leadership – fairly, confidently, and without a single legal misstep.